FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 18, 2010
Contact: Ellen Nowak – Chief-of-Staff, (262) 548-7902
WAUKESHA, Wis. – In anticipation of a potential recommendation regarding the future of Ethan Allen School, located in the Village of Wales, by the Governor’s Juvenile Corrections Review Committee, Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas is calling for Governor Jim Doyle to ensure the facility remain a youth corrections facility.
Due to a Juvenile Corrections’ budget deficit projected at $25 million, Doyle has created a task force to examine ways to respond to this deficit. Currently, the task force is deliberating the possibility of closing Ethan Allen School. This recommendation may be made despite a significant impact the closing would have on the juveniles sent to the facility and the economic and employment implications it would have on Waukesha County.
As of 2009, 73% of youth referred to Ethan Allen and Lincoln Hills, located in Irma, Wisconsin, the other juvenile detention facility in the state, came from 6 counties in central or southeastern Wisconsin – Dane, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, Rock and Waukesha Counties. These 6 counties are at least 2.5 hours away from Lincoln Hills. Research has proven that the role of parents and family members in the rehabilitation and re-socialization of incarcerated youth can
play a vital and long-lasting role in the treatment of at-risk youth. If all juveniles are incarcerated at Lincoln Hills, they would be further isolated from their families and family involvement in treatment would be more difficult.
“The priority of the state must be to protect the residents of our communities and provide housing, punishment and rehabilitation to juveniles in the best and most efficient way possible,” Vrakas said. “If Ethan Allan School is closed, we would not be efficiently providing the service that is needed.”
In addition to the impacts closing the school would have on service delivery to juvenile delinquents, closing Ethan Allen School would have a direct impact on the local economy and employment in Waukesha County.
Vrakas said he has been contacted by numerous concerned constituents urging the state keep the school a juvenile facility.
“I share the concerns of my constituents,” he said. “I urge the Committee to keep Ethan Allen School a juvenile corrections facility.”
###
Daniel P. Vrakas
County Executive
515 W. Moreland Blvd. · Room 320
Waukesha, Wisconsin 53188
Phone: (262) 548-7902 · Fax: (262) 896-8510
TDD: (262) 548-7903
www.waukeshacounty.gov
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
This blog is created to not only keep you informed, but to receive feedback from you as well. Please feel free to comment on any posts. We reserve the right to remove any post we deem inappropriate in language and/or content.